The
so-called Wolf Creek Conferences of CPR researchers were initiated
by Doctors James Elam, James Jude, and Peter Safar.The objective was to improve the clinical practices of
cardiopulmonary resuscitation by stimulating laboratory and clinical
research.There was great need of objective data such that guidelines
on resuscitation might be secure.Those who were to deliver such life-saving care had to be
identified and appropriately trained.The first meeting of some 10 investigators was hosted in 1975
by Dr. James Jude at his “Wolf Creek Lodge” in Georgia.The proceedings were published by Doctors Safar and Elam as
part of a monograph entitled Advances in CPR by Springer-Verlag in
1977.The second meeting occurred approximately five years later.It was chaired by the late Dr. Joseph Redding.The proceedings appeared in Critical Care Medicine in 1981.
The third was held approximately five years later and it was
organized by Doctors Nicholas Bircher, Mickey Eisenberg and Charles
Otto.The fourth Wolf Creek Conference was held in Palm Springs,
California in April of 1996 and convened by Weil Institute of
Critical Care Medicine under the chairmanship of Dr. Max Harry Weil.The proceedings were published in New Horizons in May 1997.
The fifth, sixth and seventh Wolf Creek Conferences were held in
September of 1999, June 2001 and June 2003 in Rancho Mirage, again
under the auspices of Weil Institute of Critical Care Medicine with
the Co-Chairmanship of Dr. Max Harry Weil and Dr. Wanchun Tang. The
proceedings were published in Critical Care Medicine in November
2000, April 2002, and September 2004, respectively. The Eighth Wolf
Creek Conference was held June 10 through June 13, 2005 and the Ninth Wolf Creek Conference
was held on June 21
through June 24, 2007, again in Rancho Mirage.

The
initial objective of these conferences has been at least partially
accomplished, and the field of resuscitation science has grown
impressively.Both laboratory and clinical research have accelerated,
within the development of AEDs, medical devices and new reperfusion
strategies.A number of new mechanical chest compression-decompression
methodologies have emerged.It is therefore timely that the tradition of Wolf Creek
Conferences and the unique opportunities for wholesome exchanges
between active research workers on CPR continue with incentive to
expand our vistas to include active research workers on
“Resuscitation” more generally, including trauma, shock, and
asphyxia. We would propose to increase focus on commonalities of
subjects, including reperfusion, preservation of cellular viability,
including hypothermia, and volume management.It is our intent that the proceedings will again be published
as in previous years.